Valve



Nov. 10, 1942.

J.. F. DAUsTER 2,301,859

VALVE Filed OCC. 29, 1940 iNVENToR JaH/v E nnusrsn Arron/Vex Patented Nov. 10, 1942 1 VALVE John F. Dauster, Wilkinsburg, Pa., assignor to Mine Safety Appliances Company, Pittsburgh,

Application October 29, 1940, Serial No. 363,288

5 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in a valve adaptable for breathing apparatus and, more particularly, to a valve which when installed in a breathing apparatus produces little or no resistance to breathing by allowing the air to flow past the valve without changing substantially the direction of movement of the air.

The type of valve contemplated by this invention is to be operative in moving from one ex treme position to another, such as from closed position to full open position, at relatively low differences in pressure on each side of the valve, the valve being designed for use principally in connection with breathingr apparatus. For this use valves are installedl to provide the necessary breathingcycle` composed of inhalation and exhalation and it is necessary that a very low re sistance to movement of air be maintained. Heretofore. the valves used required an enlargement of breathing tube or valve casting to allow the air to move past the valve without producing too great resistance. This condition was due to the limited opening provided through the valve when in an open position. y

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a valve adaptable for use in connection with breathing apparatus, which is operative at low differences in pressure and which when disposed in an open position allows the air to move past the valve without substantial change in the direction of movement of the air.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a valve of the type contemplated which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple in assembly, adaptable to breathing apparatus without requiring modiiication and suitably responsive at the low pressures existing in such apparatus to control the movement of air in the apparatus in accordance with the demands of the wearer.

While this invention is especially adapted as a breathing valve and a preferred embodiment of which is such, it is recognized that other applicationscan be made of this invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly in section of a portion of a breathing tube and illustrating thepreferred embodiment of my valve arranged as an inhalation valve;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the valve assembly from the underside of the assembly;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the assembly from the upperside of the assembly; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

This invention is described in connection with providing a suitable inhalation valve, and it will be obvious that a similar arrangement can be made for providing an exhalation valve except that the valve by the force` of exhalation would be arranged to move to an open position while the force of inhalation would move the valve to a closed position. This is exactly the opposite in operation to the valve to be described.

Referring to the drawing, a breathing tube I as illustrated is composed of inlets 2 and 3 and a common or single outlet 4. This outlet has a threaded connection to which the inlet of the facepiece is connected. In order that the exhaled air discharged from the facepiece does not enter into these inlet passages, it is necessary that a valve be supplied which is operable to close off the inlet passages during exhalation. In other words, by the pressure of exhalation the valve is to close and thus prevent the exhaled air from passing into the source of respirable air. It is a feature of this invention that the valve provided is operative to move from a completely closed position to an open position during the inhalation cycleand when moving to and so disposed in the open position it offers little or no resistance to the movement of air from the source of respirable air to the facepiece.

It is apparent that a valve for this purpose must not fail in action and must tightly close oi the passage when in a closed position and be re sponsive to the low pressures present. In previous practice the valve is a flat disc made of a thin sheet of hard surface material such as mica. This material is not affected by moisture present in the air and when operative on a suitable valve seat closes off completely the passage when subject to pressures of inhalation or exhalation. For the purpose of this invention the valve l2 is of similar material.

Cooperating with the valve i2 is a valve seat I I which may be the breathing tube body itself, but preferably is formed by inserting an additional tube 'l within the breathing tube and attaching it to the surface of the breathing tube as by a tight fit or welding. The upper extent 8 of this tube is shaped on the bias to the outlet 4 and is disposed in the breathing tube as illustrated. This disposition is made for the purpose of compactness and thus decreases the dimension of the outlet 4 which is attached to the facepiece. It is apparent that the greater this dimension the more Weight-isplaced onto the facepiece itself because of the effect of force moments. Closing olf the inlet of this inner tube 'I is a plate 9 which has an opening I0 and integral therewith is the valve seat II positioned on the outward side of the plate and against which the valve I2 abuts. In order to be effective in opening during inhalation the valve is normally closed and this is accomplished since when the apparatus is in operative condition the position of the breathing tube would be oriented about 90 from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to position the outlet 4 horizontally. weight of the valve to place itself in closed position.

disc since it is merely a plate or disc and unattached to the valve seat, a guide means I6 is provided. A feature of this invention is to provide a guide means so that the valve plate in moving from a closed position to an open position does not interfere to any substantial extent to the movement of air in its direction of movement. To provide this operation of valve movement, the guide means is composed of wire elements I I and I8. These elements are disposed on each side of the valve and laterally thereof and each is fastened at its ends to the underside ,of the plate 9 by means of welding or soldering. These elements can be made of ordinary formable wire and contain between their ends two abutments, namely Ila and IIb of element I'I and I8a and I8b of element I8. These abutments are positioned in such relation to the valve I2 that they dene the extent of movement of the valve when placed in an open position. The rear abutments IIb and I 8b are positioned rather closely to the valve plate when it is disposed in a closed position, but they are spaced therefrom to allow a form of hinge action in the valve in moving to an open position. In order to further reduce the resistance, it has been found desirable to deiine these abutments by looping the wire and thus provide a rounded surface for engagement with the valve plate. With such a surface, the valve in moving actually rolls about the surface of the abutments I'Ib and I8b. The outer abutments I'Ia and I8a are also formed by looping the wire elements in order to present to the valve a surface of contact which in no instance would hold or restrict the movement of valve to a closed position.

These outward abutments are positioned in alignment with the abutments I'Ib and I8b such as illustrated in Fig. 3, and the end upright portions Ilc and |80 are offset laterally. This design allows free movement of the valve to the open position of the valve, illustrated in Fig. 2, and insures against any sticking or binding of the valve and thus makes the valve especially suitable for breathing apparatus. Also, the arrangement requires no connection to the valve plate I2 which, if needed, would provide a source of resistance to valve movement, especially after the valve had been in use for some time.

While this specific embodiment illustrates the principle involved in my invention and it is recognized that modifications can be made of this embodiment, it is intended that this invention be not limited to the embodiment and any modications thereof but be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a breathing valve including a housing having a passage, a freely movable at shaped This arrangement would cause the.

In order to control the movement of the valve valve interposed in the passage, a valve seat sup- 75 ported by the housing, and a valve guide means for the valve comprising a pair of substantially rigid wire members having each of their ends attached to the housing and positioned on each side of the valve to confine the path of movement of the valve relative to the valve seat, each member having inwardly directed looped portions intermediate the ends and presenting rounded contactable surfaces to the engageable valve, the rounded surfaces serving to direct and allow free movement of the valve in its movement and to make the valve responsive to opening and closing to low differences in pressures on each side of the valve, one looped portion of each member being disposed closer to the valve seat than the other portion to position the valve, when abutting the engageable surface of the looped portions of each member, in an outwardly extending direction whereby movement of the fluid in the passage through the valve is substantially unrestricted when the valve is in a full open position.

2. In a breathing valve including a housing having a passage, a freely movable flat disc valve interposed in the passage and operative by engaging a valve seat supported by the housing to control the flow of fluid through the passage, and a valve guide means comprising a pair of wire members each supported at its ends by the housing and positioned on each side of the valve to confine the lateral movement of the valve in moving from a closed position to an open position, each of the Wire members having a pair o-f spaced inwardly directed looped portions intermediate the ends and disposed so that one looped portion of each pair is positioned above the other looped portion and said guides being similarly arranged with respect to each other whereby the valve when engaging the looped portions is positioned in the general direction of ow of fluid through the passage to substantially unrestrict the flow of fluid past the valve, and the relatively lower portion of each member being spaced above the valve when the valve is in a closed position to allow free movement of the valve by a rolling engagement of the valve with the looped surface in moving from a closed position to an open position.

3. In a breathing valve including a housing having a passage and a freely movable fiat shaped valve interposed in the passage, a valve seat supported by the housing and positioned in a bias arrangement relative to the general direction of ow of :fluid in the passage and a valve guide means comprising a pair of outwardly extending wire members, each of the members having two spaced inwardly directed looped portions with one looped portion of each member being in alignment with a looped portion of the other member and each of these portions being positioned below the other looped portion of the member of which it forms a part, the other looped portions being in alignment with respect to each other, the lower looped portion of each member being in spaced relation to the valve in a closed position and presenting a curved contactable surface to the valve to provide a rolling contact and substantially unrestricted movement of the valve in moving from a closed position to an open position and positioned laterally inwardly of the Vvalve relative to the other looped portion, the looped portions of each of the members being arranged relative to the direction of flow through the passage to allow the valve to move to an open position and abut the surface of each of the looped portions whereby the valve is substantially parallel tothe general direction of flow and the flow of fluid through the passage past the valve is substantially unrestricted.

4. In a breathing valve including a housing having a passage, a valve seat supported by the housing, a freely movable fiat shaped valve interposed in and controlling the passage, a valve guide means therefor comprising a pair of outwardly extending wire members having each of their ends attached to the housing and positioned on each side of the valve to define the path of movement of the valve relative to the valve seat, each member having inwardly directed looped portions intermediate the ends and presenting rounded engageable surfaces to the valve, one looped portion of each member being disposed adjacent the valve but in spaced relation therto when the valve is in a. closed position, each looped portion being transversely aligned with respect to the similar looped portion of the other member and one looped portion of each wire member being operative as a fulcrum means for the valve in moving to an open position, the wire members being spaced from each other at the location of `these looped members to dispose the fulcrum in close proximity to one portion of the valve seat, the other looped portion of each wire member forming abutments to form a limit for the open position of the valve and the portion of the wire members between the abutments and the connections to the housing being of increased spacing in order to conne the valve within the guide means. 5. In a breathing valve including a housing having a passage, a freely movable flat shaped valve interposed in the passage, a valve seat supported by the housing, and a valve guide means for the Valve comprising a pair of substantially rigid Wire members having each of their ends attached to the housing and positioned laterally of the valve to confine the path of movement of the valve relative to the valve seat, each member having a looped portion intermediate its ends directed toward the valve and serving as a fulcrum means for movement of the valve to an open position and being spaced a suiicient amount from the valve seat so that the valve in opening initially may move outwardly from the seat to provide substantially unrestricted further pivotal movement of the valve about the looped portions and the guide means being arranged in such relation relative to the passage of the housing to permit substantially unrestricted flow of fluid past the valve when in open position.

JOHN F. DAUSTER. 

